November premiere for major Miners’ Strike film project

Wayne is interviewing and filming Doncaster miners, their families and other witnesses about the strike and the impact it had on their lives and communities.

Those interviews will form the base for a piece of work - supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Heritage Doncaster funding - that will premiere when it is projected onto the facade of Cusworth Hall for a special evening that will include a live brass band performance this November.

There are also plans to create an extended version of the film that Wayne hopes to see screened at Doncaster’s Savoy Cinema, while it is also his aim to projection map the work onto the walls of former pit houses across Doncaster.

“We have had a brilliant response to the original request for people to be interviewed for the film,” said Wayne.

“I have already interviewed eight people and have another 20 lined up over the next few weeks, which will create a fully rounded study of what the strike meant and continues to mean for many people,” said Wayne.

“It’s not just about the miners, it’s about their partners, their children, people in the community and anybody in Doncaster and the surrounding villages who remembers what it was like to be part of this community in 1984.

“And it’s not just a story of hardship, it’s also an exploration of how the strike galvanised Doncaster’s pit communities and brought them together.

“I am aiming to create something that is frank and open and has its roots firmly in Doncaster even though it will also have national significance and should resonate through all the UK communities from Wales to the North East and Scotland that were caught up in this pivotal moment of our industrial and political history.

“I grew up in this mining community and although I was only very young in 1984 and have no real memories of the strike, I do remember my dad going to picket, even though I didn’t really understand what that meant.

“It may be 40 years since the strike but the emotions of those times still run deep and have left an indelible mark that I want to explore but encouraging people to share their memories of that time.”